“A man was cleaning the attic of an old house in New England and he found a box which was full of tiny pieces of string. On the lid of the box there was an inscription in an old hand: ‘String too short to be saved.’” Donald Hall
Some things seem too small to matter.
Persistence is noble until it’s stupid.
Don’t quit because something is difficult. Everything meaningful is difficult.
Quit because it’s no longer worthwhile.
Sometimes you win when you quit.
5 Signs It’s Time to Quit
Bottlenecks protect the status quo.
A bottleneck is blocking your efforts to make things better. Now what?
A bottleneck…
Buries themselves in detail.
Chooses what is over what might be.
Uses policy and procedure to control.
Closes their ears.
How to bust bottlenecks…
Learning from mistakes is hard. Ego, defensiveness, blame, avoidance, and fear prolong stupidity.
Learning from success is nearly impossible.
Workaholics succeed. Manipulators get ahead. Cutting corners pays for a while.
Failure asks questions. Success makes stupid look smart.
The Unexpected Blunder of Letting Success Make You Stupid
A client said, “It’s been quiet for three weeks. I haven’t achieved the challenge you gave me months ago.”
My mind went to “shoe-drop” conversations. But he didn’t go there.
He referred to this challenge. “The next time we talk, I want you to complain about being bored.”
Creating and Maximizing Quiet…
Organizational wins hinge on middle managers. They stand between talk and action. Their success usually signals organizational success.
I’m accountable for results but don’t have the authority to make decisions.
Top brass pulls one way. Front-line employees pull the other.
Senior leaders get the credit; we get the blame.
