The Manager 144 - Growth at all costs and more
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The Manager - Edition 144 - Growth at all costs and more
Hi,
I hope you are doing safe and well. It’s crazy busy packing up the house for the house move. It’s since been delayed a few days, but these things happen.
As I clear out the house and pack up, it’s amazing how much stuff you collect over 14 years in the same house.
Anyhow, one very positive side effect of moving is that our internet at the new house will be about 2/3 quicker than it is here! Same village, two streets away and very different speeds…
Growth at all cost - and the cost is usually human
I find it fascinating how many people really want to work for a start-up. When I mention I’ve been through the whole journey people tend to say, “I’d love that”.
Not all start-ups are the same, for sure, but trust me, it’s not all roses. Especially when you’re working with leaders who want growth at all cost - and that, in my experience, is a great many of them.
For example, look what’s happening over at Brewdog.
Employees and former employees wrote a letter to the owners expressing their concerns over safety, mental health and the demands put on them.
They blame the leaders for creating the culture; that sounds reasonable indeed. The culture of a company is generated by leaders and managers behaviours. You can nudge from the ground up, but leaders and managers set the tone. There is a ripple effect from them. And in this instance it was all about controversy, playing the social media game and growth at all costs.
Financial and market growth at all cost always has a great cost - and it’s typically human, environmental and long lasting. Be careful trying to grow at all costs.
Sample Book Chapter
As many of you may know, I am writing yet another book tentatively titled "Take A Day Off - and other advice for leaders and managers".
This book has been painful. It’s been over a year now in the making (and at least 10 years before that of collecting ideas) and I just don’t seem to be able to get the main draft finished. I thought the book would be a 2-month journey. Alas, I was wrong.
I still haven’t figured out what’s wrong. I’ll get the house move out of the way and take a few hours to reflect. I suspect that’s the problem…..” take a few hours” - I think my energy and attention is being spread too thin.
Anyhow, that’s my problem to deal with. Here’s an early chapter from the book. I have revised my plans and now aim to ship it by September, but I haven’t made a commitment to which year :)
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As I was sitting on the top deck of a bus waiting for passengers to board, I watched a young lad running for the bus, his arms flailing as he shouted for the bus driver to wait.
As he reached the top of a grassy embankment, he lost his footing. You could see the colour drain from his face and his eyes widen as he slipped, stumbled and slipped some more. He fell on his backside and descended the embankment.
As he slid down the embankment his momentum increased. Onlookers reached for their mobile phones. This had viral content written all over it.
The only thing stopping this young man’s prolonged physical descent and corresponding social media ascent, was the concrete pavement. As he touched down, he came to an awkward stop.
People laughed, some pointed, some filmed on their phones, some mumbled about how unfortunate and embarrassing that was. Except for one lady who rushed over to help him up and make sure he was OK.
As he got to his feet and regained some level of composure, he thanked the woman and boarded the bus as though nothing had happened. Kudos to both.
We all fall down, but it’s the rising back up that counts. At some point, we will all need help, and we should be grateful to those who offer it. More importantly, when someone else falls, let’s be there to help them back up.
No doubt a little bit of that man died that day. He no doubt felt embarrassed and will remember that moment for years to come. But he’ll also remember the woman who helped him. When he falls again, either physically or metaphorically, he’ll know he can get back up. He’ll know help will arrive.
Let’s always help others with no expectation of anything in return. And one day, when we fall, someone will hopefully be there to help us.
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Forget time management
As you know, I wrote a book last year about how energy and attention is more important than time management. This seems like an even more salient point after reading this wonderful article about the history of time, and how time zones, clocks and our routines around time - are all made up. And mostly based upon the British Empire and their train timetables.
What I find most remarkable is that even with a wealth of information on the Internet about biology, history, natural remedies and the like, we still ignore nature. We still build our days around the clock…rather than what we instinctively know to be true.
It’s hard not to - the corporate world is built around the clock, but we are seeing that change. And I for one, try very hard to build my life around Energy and Attention - not time. If only I could direct some of it to my latest book :)
Ideas - too many of them
I have no problem coming up with new ideas. But if you do struggle with generating ideas - then this post is useful.
With too many ideas though comes the challenge of which ones to focus on. This smart article and guide shows how one game designer does it. I do something similar with themed days but maybe not to the same level as this.
HR should learn to celebrate being wrong
If Brian Cox says it, we’d better listen. He’s said we should never forget humility and the human side of work - and that HR should celebrate being wrong. In my experience, there will be lots and lots of celebrations :)
And I for one will be celebrating in a couple of months - only two more modules to go until I get my HR diploma. Party at the new house?
Until next week
Rob..
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Rob..