Are you setting failure traps

The CEO announced bold revenue targets—triple growth in eighteen months. The team nodded enthusiastically. Six months later, morale was crushed, and key people had quit. Sound familiar? This is not unique to organizations, and is even more prevalent in our individual...

Who questions your choices

Power has a peculiar effect on judgment. The higher you climb, the quieter dissent becomes. Your board might nod. Your team might smile. Your family might defer. But who actually stops you when you’re about to make a costly mistake? Consider Theranos. Elizabeth...

Does every opportunity deserve yes

The conference room buzzes with excitement. The deal on the table promises everything—revenue, growth, market expansion. Someone inevitably declares it “once-in-a-lifetime.” But Jim Collins saw through this seduction decades ago. In Good to Great, he...

Who backs your solo act

The myth of the lone genius persists everywhere. We celebrate the CEO who “single-handedly” turned around the company. The entrepreneur who “built it from nothing.” The executive who “saved the quarter.” But look closer. Lewis...

Delusion of determination

Determination built empires. Steve Jobs returned to Apple with unwavering conviction. Sara Blakely cut the feet off pantyhose despite years of rejection. Colonel Sanders knocked on 1,009 doors before someone said yes to his chicken recipe. But determination has a...