Bearings
To Those That Are Present: George Washington's Rule No. 1 and Veterans Day
Memorial Day honors the fallen. Veterans Day honors the ones still with us. Washington's Rule No. 1, and four moments from 1782 and 1783, show what respect for living veterans looks like, at home and at work.
Be No Flatterer: What Hamilton and John Adams Teach About the Numbers You Bring the Board
"Facts are stubborn things." On John Adams's birthday, a lesson from Washington's Rule 17 and the Federalist Papers on why founders need people, and software, that won't flatter them.
Undertake Not What You Cannot Perform: What the Panama Canal Teaches About Raising Capital
George Washington copied out 110 rules of conduct as a teenager. Rule 82 is the best capital-raising advice I know, and the Panama Canal shows why.
I Read Jules Verne Before I Read a P&L
Long before I ever saw an income statement, I was reading Jules Verne. This week's Moon news reminded me why he's still the best planning teacher I know.
The Off-Site Is Not the Plan
t's October, which means a lot of leadership teams are about to spend two days in a hotel conference room with a facilitator, a stack of sticky notes and a whiteboard full of ideas. There will be a SWOT analysis, a refreshed vision statement and a list of strategic priorities. Everyone will leave energized.
By February, the binder will be on a shelf, and the company will be running exactly the way it ran before.