This from the HBR blogs, always a wealth of insight.
Quote of the day from this article:
"Success hides problems."
Of course. How obvious. Why don't more of us see those obvious things in front of us?
OS's first job out of college was with a successful small business, family owned, recently moved into a lovely building custom-built for them. Creative on top floor one side, admin top floor the other, production on the ground floor, and warehouse round back. It was cool to be there, and success was in the air.
Now the building stands empty. The company was bought for pennies just before bankruptcy.
A member of the family told OS the crucial anecdote:
On the day we dedicated that building, our CPA quietly told us that this building is not a monument to what we have achieved, but to what we would have to achieve going forward.
They were so happy about being successful, they never saw or dealt with the problems.
The next time OS had dealings with them, some ten years later, they were in total chaos, in the death spiral, never to recover.
Success hides problems.
Showing posts with label Success. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Success. Show all posts
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
A Success Story, Brought To You By People The Pundits Ridicule
It's not all bad news out there.
Consider Northern Ireland's Wrightbus.
From the FT, earlier in January:
Last week, when London’s authorities revealed the company that would design and build a new bus for the capital, mayor Boris Johnson heralded the planned vehicles as “state of the art”.
But behind the proposed cutting-edge buses is an old-fashioned family business called Wrightbus. Its workers still make the vehicles, partly by hand, on the site where it was founded – in God-fearing Ballymena, the Northern Irish town represented in parliament by the Rev Ian Paisley, and known as the “buckle on the Bible belt”.
In keeping with its traditional values, Wrightbus has a church within its grounds, tithes money to tuberculosis wards in Uganda, still has a tea trolley, employs a welfare officer, offers loans to staff in difficulty and has always stuck to a principle of little or no borrowing.
But, hold on folks! This success, in Paisley's old stomping grounds(likely at least someone in that plant voted for the man!)? You mean, it's not captive to the banksters? You mean, it takes care of its people?
It's not unionized?
It's not on government life support?
It employs craftsmen?
It hasn't moved to India, or China, or Mexico, to take advantage of the slave labor market?
Maybe it succeeds because it has steadily tread against the dominant cultural tide.
Green Shoots Nominee!
Consider Northern Ireland's Wrightbus.
From the FT, earlier in January:
Last week, when London’s authorities revealed the company that would design and build a new bus for the capital, mayor Boris Johnson heralded the planned vehicles as “state of the art”.
But behind the proposed cutting-edge buses is an old-fashioned family business called Wrightbus. Its workers still make the vehicles, partly by hand, on the site where it was founded – in God-fearing Ballymena, the Northern Irish town represented in parliament by the Rev Ian Paisley, and known as the “buckle on the Bible belt”.
In keeping with its traditional values, Wrightbus has a church within its grounds, tithes money to tuberculosis wards in Uganda, still has a tea trolley, employs a welfare officer, offers loans to staff in difficulty and has always stuck to a principle of little or no borrowing.
But, hold on folks! This success, in Paisley's old stomping grounds(likely at least someone in that plant voted for the man!)? You mean, it's not captive to the banksters? You mean, it takes care of its people?
It's not unionized?
It's not on government life support?
It employs craftsmen?
It hasn't moved to India, or China, or Mexico, to take advantage of the slave labor market?
Maybe it succeeds because it has steadily tread against the dominant cultural tide.
Green Shoots Nominee!
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