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Ma6: The Back Foot NOTES
For proper formatting (bold, italics, etc.) and graphics (where applicable) see the PDF version. Copyright: 2020 Retraice, Inc.
Ma6: The Back FootMargin by Retraice
On waiting, being on defense and getting blindsided.
Air date: Sunday, 25th Oct. 2020, 08 : 20 PM Pacific/US.
1 Sundays and MondaysPeople are busy on Mondays, and they'll tend to make you busy, and so waiting to start the week puts you at a disadvantage.
Time zones mean it's easy to start the week behind, or be compelled to work into the weekend.
WaitingWaiting can be a mistake, and a bad habit.
Being on the defensiveCathy Hughes1 made the point that, when she was unable to pay her bills, she proactively warned and negotiated with her creditors.
Tipping people overBeing pushed backward off balance can turn even an armored soldier into something like a flipped turtle.
Being blindsidedAfter the blindside hit, you're on the defensive. But before it, you're in a strange place of ignorance.
Andy Grove:
"If you work in one of these industries and you are in middle management, you may very well sense the shifting winds on your face before the company as a whole and sometimes before your senior management does. Middle managers—especially those who deal with the outside world, like people in sales—are often the first to realize that what worked before doesn't quite work anymore; that the rules are changing."2
You're the CEO and the janitorWhich means you're also middle management, which means you might 'sense the shifting winds', and avoid being blindsided.
Cathy Hughes said the only thing she didn't know how to do at her radio station was fire up the transmitter.3
War time and peace time CEOsBen Horowitz wrote that there are two kinds of CEO, and that you have to know which you are, or which kind you need.4 But isn't it better to win the war without fighting?
Stay off the back foot.
ReferencesGrove, A. S. (1996). Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company. Currency / Doubleday. ISBN: 0385483821. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=0385483821 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+0385483821 https://lccn.loc.gov/96013509
Horowitz, B. (2014). The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers. Harper Business. ISBN: 978-0062273208. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0062273208 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0062273208 https://lccn.loc.gov/2017448298
Hughes, C., & Raz, G. (2017). Radio One: Cathy Hughes. NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz. 14th Aug. 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/09/29/542650845/radio-one-cathy-hughes Retrieved 23rd Oct. 2020.
1Hughes & Raz (2017)
2Grove (1996) p. 21.
3Hughes & Raz (2017)
4Horowitz (2014) p. 224 ff.
View all episodes
By Retraice, Inc.For proper formatting (bold, italics, etc.) and graphics (where applicable) see the PDF version. Copyright: 2020 Retraice, Inc.
Ma6: The Back FootMargin by Retraice
On waiting, being on defense and getting blindsided.
Air date: Sunday, 25th Oct. 2020, 08 : 20 PM Pacific/US.
1 Sundays and MondaysPeople are busy on Mondays, and they'll tend to make you busy, and so waiting to start the week puts you at a disadvantage.
Time zones mean it's easy to start the week behind, or be compelled to work into the weekend.
WaitingWaiting can be a mistake, and a bad habit.
Being on the defensiveCathy Hughes1 made the point that, when she was unable to pay her bills, she proactively warned and negotiated with her creditors.
Tipping people overBeing pushed backward off balance can turn even an armored soldier into something like a flipped turtle.
Being blindsidedAfter the blindside hit, you're on the defensive. But before it, you're in a strange place of ignorance.
Andy Grove:
"If you work in one of these industries and you are in middle management, you may very well sense the shifting winds on your face before the company as a whole and sometimes before your senior management does. Middle managers—especially those who deal with the outside world, like people in sales—are often the first to realize that what worked before doesn't quite work anymore; that the rules are changing."2
You're the CEO and the janitorWhich means you're also middle management, which means you might 'sense the shifting winds', and avoid being blindsided.
Cathy Hughes said the only thing she didn't know how to do at her radio station was fire up the transmitter.3
War time and peace time CEOsBen Horowitz wrote that there are two kinds of CEO, and that you have to know which you are, or which kind you need.4 But isn't it better to win the war without fighting?
Stay off the back foot.
ReferencesGrove, A. S. (1996). Only the Paranoid Survive: How to Exploit the Crisis Points That Challenge Every Company. Currency / Doubleday. ISBN: 0385483821. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=0385483821 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+0385483821 https://lccn.loc.gov/96013509
Horowitz, B. (2014). The Hard Thing About Hard Things: Building a Business When There Are No Easy Answers. Harper Business. ISBN: 978-0062273208. Searches: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=978-0062273208 https://www.google.com/search?q=isbn+978-0062273208 https://lccn.loc.gov/2017448298
Hughes, C., & Raz, G. (2017). Radio One: Cathy Hughes. NPR's How I Built This with Guy Raz. 14th Aug. 2017. https://www.npr.org/2017/09/29/542650845/radio-one-cathy-hughes Retrieved 23rd Oct. 2020.
1Hughes & Raz (2017)
2Grove (1996) p. 21.
3Hughes & Raz (2017)
4Horowitz (2014) p. 224 ff.