Why helping others is good for you

Treating colleagues like customers. 

I once spent a few months working as a kitchen hand in a ski resort. It was the ideal job if you wanted to work on your skiing; not so great if you wanted to enjoy your work.

That wasn’t because the job was hard. It was because the chef was an idiot. His passion was customer service. He demanded the staff focus entirely on the experience of the diner. 

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Beating Inertia

What’s your big opportunity?

You probably know that you or your firm can go better. You are aware of specific strengths and you know you could knock the cover off the ball if you really gave it your best shot. Trouble is you don’t seem to get around to it.

Can you do anything about it?

There’s a couple of roadblocks you need to clear. The first is that you only need one idea, not lots of them. Having too many great projects can create more inertia than not having any.

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What I learned at the Olympics

Focus on the now, not the result.

My daughter, an equestrian, rode for Australia at the London Olympics.

Her campaign, however, started long before that. She moved herself and her horse to Germany almost two years before to lift her game. She needed to train and compete at the elite level. Olympians in any sport do much the same.

Performance on the day is the ultimate test, but the preparation is crucial. It requires intense commitment in the right environment.

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Shareholder value has nothing to do with the share market

Why a lot of executive packages are outrageous and stupid

A loyal executive of 20 years reaches the rank of CFO. He’s smart, thorough and committed. He does a great job, earning options that convert at $10 a share. No one begrudges his package. He’s put in the yards and delivered the results.

The share price rises to $15. He plans to retire at 65, exercising his options and using the profit of $5 per share to finance his remaining years.

Then the stock markets tanks. The price falls to $5, his options expire worthless and after 20 years contributing to shareholder value, he retires with zip.

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The Collaborative Cockpit

Good managers are neither ideologues nor cynics

Before the acronym CRM was hijacked by Customer Relationship Management, it stood for Cockpit Resource Management. Developed by NASA in the 1970s, it was a collaborative practice aimed at curbing disasters due to human error.

This original CRM was adopted by commercial airlines and is still a key part of aircrew training. It’s credited with a two-decade fall in the number of aircraft mishaps caused by people rather than malfunction.

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