Tag Archives: Rules

Old Man in Coveralls

Jist Do It Right

General Management,

I once attended a party precinct meeting leading to a presidential primary in Texas. The chair was a young man in his early 20’s. He was obviously very full of himself and considered himself a political expert.

About half way through the meeting, he started to by-pass some of the time-consuming procedural steps.

Suddenly, someone yelled from the back of the room, “Jist do it right!”. Turning around, we see a grizzled old white-haired man with a five day growth of beard, wearing dirt-stained coveralls.

The startled young man said, “Well…alright.” and led the group through the correct steps.

Two weeks later, a court ordered a group of other precincts to re-meet to correct their procedural shortcuts.”

Moral: It is usually better and faster to “Jist do it right” the first time

How to Say Yes While Saying No

General Management, Negotiation, , , ,
Many business gurus are touting the ability to say, “No” as a sign of a great leader. Just search the web or Amazon for “say no”. Warren Buffet says that saying, “No” to almost everything is a key to his success. Even I have proclaimed saying, “No” to be an important technique.

But there is a better way. Continue reading How to Say Yes While Saying No →

Second-Order Thinking

General Management, , ,
Great decisions require understanding the second-order effects of your decision. Second-order effects are the consequences of the consequences of a decision. For example, the Prohibition Amendment stopped the legal production and distribution of alcoholic beverages. That was the intended consequence. The unintended second-order consequence was the rise of large criminal enterprises that continued far beyond the bootlegging. Continue reading Second-Order Thinking →

Understanding the 5 Types of Difficult People

General Management,

“Be slow to attribute to malice or guile, that which can be explained by ignorance, incompetence, or muddling through.”
— My modification of  from Heinlein’s Razor, stolen from Napoleon

Homeowner associations are unique among nonprofits.

In a homeowner association, everyone looks out for themselves.  And they don’t hesitate to break the rules and complain about others breaking the rules.

Rule-breakers and complainers are difficult people, falling into one of five categories. Continue reading Understanding the 5 Types of Difficult People →

Leadership at Amazon

General Management, ,

Amazon has published a set of leadership principles. Great! Many organizations do that. But they have people, long-term managers, whose job is to see that new hires understand those principles and that the organization actually follows them.

The principles are easy to read but harder to apply. They are contrary to practices in many, if not most organizations.  For example, the customer comes before profitability.  Most companies follow the dictum of Milton Friedman that the sole purpose of a corporation is to increase profits.

Obviously, Amazon understands that the higher purpose of a corporation is to add value. Then profits come as a fallout of that value.

Another principle is ownership. Leaders are owners. They think long-term and don’t sacrifice long-term value for short-term results. They take ownership of issues and results.

Most of the other principles flow from these.

Dave Anderson, one of those Amazon leaders, has written an article, both humorous and sad, about outrageous responses to interview questions about these principles. Then he demonstrates an answer he loves. He posted it both on Scarlet Ink and on Linkedin. Go read it. You will be glad you did.