Alignment is the essence of management.
- Fred Smith
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Getting to Carnegie Hall
David Brooks on the modern view of genius:
The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.
The latest research suggests a more prosaic, democratic, even puritanical view of the world. The key factor separating geniuses from the merely accomplished is not a divine spark. It’s not I.Q., a generally bad predictor of success, even in realms like chess. Instead, it’s deliberate practice. Top performers spend more hours (many more hours) rigorously practicing their craft.
Career Speeding, Then Braking
Psychologists have written of how some individuals possess sufficient ambition to try but then, as they near their goal, begin to have doubts and engage in self-sabotage.
My guess is that behavior is fairly common. I've seen executives and managers whose careers are dotted with bursts of aggressively ambitious behavior followed by periods of significant insecurity. Lyndon Johnson once said Richard Nixon reminded him of a horse that nears the finish line only to suddenly turn around and run the wrong way.
These aren't people whose lack of ambition has taken them out of the game. If it had, their lives might be much simpler. Instead, they have the ability and drive to succeed and yet seriously question whether they deserve success. In many cases, less able competitors with little self-doubt wind up passing them.
The victims of this syndrome can usually be helped. The question is whether they will seek it.
My guess is that behavior is fairly common. I've seen executives and managers whose careers are dotted with bursts of aggressively ambitious behavior followed by periods of significant insecurity. Lyndon Johnson once said Richard Nixon reminded him of a horse that nears the finish line only to suddenly turn around and run the wrong way.
These aren't people whose lack of ambition has taken them out of the game. If it had, their lives might be much simpler. Instead, they have the ability and drive to succeed and yet seriously question whether they deserve success. In many cases, less able competitors with little self-doubt wind up passing them.
The victims of this syndrome can usually be helped. The question is whether they will seek it.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Pontiac's Rise and Fall
Ralph Kinney Bennett on the passing of Pontiac. An excerpt:
Pontiac had started in 1926 as a “companion car,” a lower-priced model of a GM car called the Oakland. The now-forgotten Oakland had been a GM mainstay—one of the three original makes (with Oldsmobile and Buick) brought under the GM umbrella when the corporation first organized in 1908. Both Olds and Buick had also introduced companion cars, the Olds Viking and the Buick Marquette, neither of which did particularly well.
Pontiac had started in 1926 as a “companion car,” a lower-priced model of a GM car called the Oakland. The now-forgotten Oakland had been a GM mainstay—one of the three original makes (with Oldsmobile and Buick) brought under the GM umbrella when the corporation first organized in 1908. Both Olds and Buick had also introduced companion cars, the Olds Viking and the Buick Marquette, neither of which did particularly well.
The Intrusion of Reality
The problem in the Western world is that governments are spending money faster than their citizenry or economies can generate it. As Gerald Ford liked to say, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is big enough to take away everything you have.” And that’s true. But there’s an intermediate stage: A government big enough to give Phil from Cathedral City everything he wants isn’t big enough to get Phil to give any of it back. That’s the stage the Europeans are at: Their electorates are hooked on unsustainable levels of “services,” but no longer can conceive of life without them.
Read the rest of Mark Steyn here.
Read the rest of Mark Steyn here.
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