Culture wins

Numbers don’t lie. The strategy deck looks pristine. The mission statement is framed on the wall. Yet the team falters. Mark Fields, former CEO of Ford Motor Company, had one of his favorite slogans on the wall: “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.”...

Rhythm beats luck

Some call it winging it. Others say they’ll figure it out on the fly. But what happens when spontaneity meets productivity? Playing by ear works beautifully for jazz musicians who’ve practiced scales for decades. For the rest of us trying to create value,...

Fresh slate

The morning arrives unaware of yesterday’s failures. Every sunrise brings a clean canvas, unmarked by your previous brushstrokes. The beauty isn’t in erasing what came before—it’s in recognizing that today carries no obligation to follow...

Discipline is the divider

Hiring is an art, a science, and a bet. Especially when you’re scaling, every wrong hire multiplies the cost. We probe for culture fit, technical skills, ambition. But often, we skip the most vital question: Is this person disciplined enough to deliver without...

The fire

We idolize the chef—visible, creative, celebrated. But as José Andrés wisely notes, “Making the fire, controlling the fire, mastering the fire, is the most important thing.” This extends beyond kitchens into leadership and life itself. The unsexy,...