Roots or ruin

I walked through a small hill town in Umbria recently. Narrow stone streets, a church that has stood since the 12th century, a butcher whose family has occupied the same shop for four generations. Nobody needed to explain the culture. It was present in every detail....

The map you keep ignoring

Every leader has guiding principles. Most just can’t name them. That is the problem. Warren Buffett built Berkshire Hathaway on a single unwavering principle: invest in businesses with durable competitive advantages, then do nothing. Not clever tactics. Not...

The frame changes everything

We measure results before we understand the situation we are measuring them in. A million dollars in new revenue. We celebrate or dismiss it before we ask the only question that matters: compared to what? For the business doing $300,000, that number is a revolution....

The arithmetic of ambition

We measure our dreams with a calculator. When asked what we want to achieve, we default to the most dangerous math: current state plus 10 percent. Maybe 20 if we’re feeling brave. This is the arithmetic that keeps us exactly where we are. The calculation is...

Premortem planning

We project goals, milestones, accountability measures. We allocate resources. We plan for success, as we should. But here’s the question that changes everything: If you failed by [specific future date], what would be the reason? Not could fail. Not might fail....