manage expectations

My company has been the recipient of over half-a-million in investor dollars, for the stated purpose of building an unknown, 3,000-member web service into a cultural phenomenon, and I truly have very little understanding of what I am doing.

Creation is entirely dependent on ownership. Ownership not as a percentage of equity, but as a measure of your ability to change things for the better. To build and grow and fail and learn. This is no small thing. Creativity is the manifestation of lateral thinking, and without tangible results, it becomes stunted. We have to see the fruits of our labors, good or bad, or there’s no motivation to proceed, nothing to learn from to inform the next decision. States of approval and decisions-by-committee and constant compromises are third-party interruptions of an internal dialog that needs to come to its own conclusions.

Amazon is a company that is absolutely customer obsessed — from the top-down. It’s been able to build a culture with the customer at the center, because its processes, technology, and the general worldview of its employees are centered right on the customer.

Quotes on Advertising by David Ogilvy (Below these quotes please see the article “How to create advertising that sells” by David Ogilvy)

3 questions Coudal asks before deciding to take on a project Can we make money from it? We’re a going business. We have mortgages to pay. We have tuitions to pay for our kids. We’re not ashamed of making money. Are we gonna be proud of it when we’re done? There’s nothing that will break your heart faster than working three months on a project and then, when it’s all done, you’ve sold your soul and compromised and you don’t even want anybody to see it. Have we learned something new? That allows us to continue to grow in the skills that we have. It allows us to be better filmmakers and writers and coders and art directors. And it keeps things interesting.

$1.85 billon dollar customer experience mistake made by Walmart (a conservative estimate of lost revenue that does not include the hundreds of millions spent on remodeling stores) - What happened? Walmart rolled out “Project Impact” - a major change in strategy and store customer experience - starting in 2008 - Why? Customers answered a Walmart survey and told Walmart that they would prefer less clutter in the stores

The Russians have a saying, "if you chase two rabbits, you won't catch either." One of the most crucial things for any leader is to create clarity. Successful companies do this. Look at WalMart, Southwest Airlines, Nordstrom, Starbucks, is there any confusion about what these companies stand for?

This advice from the artifle is spot on: 'The most pertinent question you can ask is not: "How can I find more business opportunities?" It is: "How can I focus on the opportunities where my company can excel — and then reap the benefits of that discipline?" The key to success is choosing the opportunities that are best for you, learning to turn down many that seem appealing on the surface — and may even represent huge monetary stakes — but do not offer you a real chance to win.'

That focus, that discipline, is what will allow the company to separate from the pack in the long run.

David Kaiser, PhD
Time Coach to Authentic Leaders
www.DarkMatterConsulting.com

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Optimism bias and business budgeting...reality is a much sturdier foundation.

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