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Let’s go vampire slaying

Cold, undead relics from a past age haunt the corporate world, spreading fear and carnage wherever they go. These monsters can look good, seductive even, but if you let them, they’ll suck the life force out of you and leave you dead. Or worse: One of them.

I call them vampire ideas and all they deserve is a stake through the heart. Vampire ideas can be found in stock management philosophy, tired old leadership theories or business advice from an earlier era. Wherever they come from, they’re bad for you and they’re bad for business.

Here’s a table comparing vampire ideas to actual vampires:

Actual vampires	Vampire ideas
Can look really good	Can look really good
…but are actually disgusting and evil	…but are actually disgusting and evil
Are undead	Should’ve been dead a long time ago
Suck people’s blood	Suck a company’s energy and creativity
Are deterred by garlick and crosses	Are deterred by good leadership
Can’t enter your house without an invitation	Can’t enter your business without an invitation
Are really hard to kill	Are really hard to kill
Wither and burn in the light of day	Wither and burn in the light of logical thinking
Cast no shadow or mirror image	That’s kinda where the analogy breaks down

So what are some commonly seen vampire ideas? Here are a few examples.

Fire the bottom 10% of your employees every year

This is one of the most inhumane, cynical and just plain stupid ideas I’ve ever heard about. Who on earth still believes that this is a good way to do business and to get the best performance from employees. This idea keeps employees constantly afraid, but if that’s what you want, go for it. The exact opposite view is described here and trust me, it works much better.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it

Considering how many things in a business are unmeasured, not to say unmeasurable, this is one more bad idea in need of a final resting place. I’ve written about it previously here. This idea of management-by-spreadsheet stifles new ideas and reduces a leaders focus to things that can be expressed in numbers.

Long work hours are good for business

No. They’re not. In fact, laziness will take you much further.

Nice guys finish last

That’s not true either. In a networked world it’s more important to be generous and likeable than to be ruthless and efficient.

I’m sure there’s more. What vampire ideas do you know, that we should get rid of once and for all?

Let’s break out the wooden stakes and go vampire slaying together!

May 15, 2006

Conversations / samtalerne – May 31
The Cluetrain Manifesto reminds us that:
- Markets are conversations.
- The Internet is enabling conversations among human beings that were simply not possible in the era of mass media.
- Companies that don’t realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.
Since the manifesto was published in 1999, we have seen the rise of weblogs, discussion groups, wiki sites, chat rooms, podcasts and social networking sites, just to mention a few technologies currently enabling conversations.

But how are businesses harnessing conversations?

As part of the Reboot conference, there will be an excellent 1-day event in Copenhagen on May 31st called Samtalerne (the conversations). I will most definitely be there, and so will
- Doc searls (co-author of the Cluetrain manifesto)
- Robert Scoble who blogs for Microsoft
- Euan Semple who introduced net conversations to the BBC
- Anette Hartvig, CEO of Aarstiderne who renamed their customer service department “Conversations”
as well as many other very interesting people. Should make for some great… conversations :o)
May 15, 2006
Goal-free in Copenhagen

Yesterday Stephen Shapiro and I toured Copenhagen by land and by water. Steve fell in love with the city, especially Christiania, the canals and smorrebrod from Ida Davidsen.

In the afternoon it was time for Steve to present Goal-Free Living to the Danes, and the presentation was a smash hit.

There are lots of pictures from the presentation here.

May 12, 2006
Enthusiasm
Scott H. Young has a great post on enthusiasm:

Enthusiasm is like any other skill. If it is continually practiced and exercised, it gets better. If it is not, then it will atrophy. Enthusiasm rarely comes naturally and it must be the result of conscious effort. Practicing the ability to use enthusiasm can keep you excited and driven even in horrible circumstances.

Go read it, it’s a great piece.

My ability to be enthusiastic is without a doubt my greatest skill. When some new idea really grabs me, my enthusiasm
- Makes me do something about it
- Helps me get others involved by infecting them with enhusiasm
- Gives me the energy to get through the difficult parts and the problems
- Lets me believe I can do it – or at least that it will be fun trying
Enthusiasm also gives me a certain half-blind optimism. I see mostly the opportunities and internally minimize problems and risks. Which is a great thing when you’re trying to do something big.

Looking back, all of the greatest things I have achieved look nearly impossible on paper. If I hadn’t had my enhusiasm to slightly blind me to the challenges involved, I would probably never have tried it. And I certainly wouldn’t have succeeded.

So I say be enthusiastic – and let it show!
May 11, 2006
Quote

I’m away all day at a conference about children’s right to play – that ought to be fun :o)

Meanwhile, please enjoy this quote by Dave Winer on why we can kiss the media goodbye:

Why do you think they call it media?

They’re middlemen.

In the future we won’t need middlemen.

Why?

Because the Internet disintermediates.

Which is a fancy word for “gets rid of the middlemen.”

Or, if you prefer, “gets rid of the media.”

– Dave Winer

Via The Obvious.

May 10, 2006
Hiring in your own image

Danish business magazine Berlingske Nyheds Magasin did an article recently picking their management dream team, naming executives from various organizations to the positions of CEO, CTO, CFO, chairman of the board, etc…

This is their dream team:

What is this, the Borgs? You must assimilate. Resistance is futile. You must become a man aged 35-50 and wear a dark suit and a tie.

Why is no one wearing jeans and a T-shirt? Why are there no men with long hair or just a beard? Where are the ethnic minorities? Why only one woman? Where are the older people? Where are the people under 35?

I was wondering why this search for a dream team resulted in an ethnically homogeneous group of identically dressed, identically looking people of the same age, and I had to laugh when I saw this picture of the people who chose the dream team:

If ever there was proof of the temptation to hire in your own image, this is it right here. A group of corporate-looking men (and one woman) aged 35-50 choose a management dream team of corporate-looking men (and one woman) aged 35-50.

My tip: When you hire people, be it employees or leaders, make sure to hire people who are not like you. After all, your company already has a you. People who are not like you are bound to make you a little uncomfortable and that’s fine. That just means that you’re not totally sure of what makes them tick. The’yre consequently more likely to surprise you and to contribute something new to the organization.

May 9, 2006
La-la-la-la – we’re not listening – la-la-la-la
A Danish study published today shows that
1. 56% of respondents believe that involving the organization is the second-most important factor for successful strategic development
2. Only 4% of businesses involve all employees in strategic development
Which made me think of this sign found in a barracks of the Israeli army:

Privates will refrain from giving advice to officers.

– From Leo Rosten’s Giant Book of Laughter

Via Arun’s musings.
May 8, 2006
Radical thinking

Pat May just started a blog called Radical Thinking and it looks great already.

Check it out, especially his recent post on the habit of getting ideas, which includes this choice Steinbeck quote:

Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple, learn how to look after them, and pretty soon you have a dozen.

May 5, 2006
Happy at writing

Lois McMaster Bujold, one of my favorite sci-fi authors, tried a new approach for her latest book: Having fun writing it.

The first ideas for this book surfaced in June, 2004, when I was out on my back deck trying to soak up some Minnesota sunshine for the long winter ahead. (In other words, I made it up, in a welcome idle moment.) I began writing in August, quite soon after I’d turned in the final manuscript for The Hallowed Hunt. This was to be a book written for my own pleasure, at my own pace, without the constraints of a contract or pressure of a deadline. The duology length came as a bit of a surprise to me, but it was precisely what the story, as it developed, needed. Also a surprise was how fast the writing went; I finished the first draft in Aug. 2006, a mere year after I’d started, the time it would usually take me to write a single much shorter book. It was fun!

If you’re into sci-fi at all, try reading her Vorkosigan books, featuring Miles Vorkosigan, the most unlikely sci-fi protagonist ever. There’s about a dozen of them and they’re all great fun, my personal favorites being Memory and A Civil Campaign.

I find it interesting that Lois decided to skip deadlines and just have fun – only to find that her writing went faster and she enjoyed it more. This is at odds with the more traditional image of the artist suffering for her art.

And the same concept probably also applies at work. Focus less on deadlines and more on enjoying work, and you will find that you get more work done and have more fun.

By the way: Bujold’s publisher is Baen. Check out the proud motto of the Baen online bookshop:

If it’s in stock , We have it!

May 5, 2006
Goal-Free Living comes to Copenhagen

Stephen Shapiro is the creator of one of the most exciting concepts I’ve heard about in a long time: Goal-Free Living, which I wrote about previously here.

I met steve when we both spoke at the Worldblu Forum in DC in October 2005, and he’s a great speaker with a great message.

Stephen is coming to Copenhagen next week to speak about innovation, his other area of expertise, but we’ve also arranged for him to do a presentation on Goal-Free Living which will happen:

Thursday may 11th at 5pm – 6pm
Café Enter, Guldbergsgade 29, Copenhagen N

You can find more information and sign up here, provided you read Danish. Non-danes can sign up by dropping a comment here. The café only has room for 50 people, so sign up quickly – it’s gonna be great!

Update: 35 people signed up in the first 24 hours. If you don’t want to miss it, better sign up fast :o)

May 4, 2006