3 ms·

This post reads more like the author trying to come to terms with his own tortured, confrontational, win/lose outlook on running a company. It also reads like

by kb101 15y ago

This post reads more like the author trying to come to terms with his own tortured, confrontational, win/lose outlook on running a company. It also reads like a case of passive/aggressive venting on a portfolio company CEO who is driving him nuts, or the aggregate of several such cases. In any case, this is not useful advice. And patently untrue. When the chips are down, people do care, and people help out, if you explain the challenges you are facing and the odds you are up against. Not least of all, "your mama". The article also strikes me as a misinterpretation of the quote and the exchange between owner and coach. I would read it differently... the coach is at his wits end, calls the owner for advice, and the owner doesn't merely say "nobody cares"! He says "just coach your team". Meaning, don't worry about all the things you thought you were going to do (with the team roster you thought you had) and just hang in there, stick to your core strength (coaching) and do your best to make it work. No wonder the author has anguished posts on his blog like "What’s The Most Difficult CEO Skill? Managing Your Own Psychology" wherein we read such gems of wisdom as "It’s like the fight club of management: The first rule of the CEO psychological meltdown is don’t talk about the psychological meltdown." Not really. The first rule is relax, don't take yourself so damn seriously. Actually, there are no rules. Isn't that why you became CEO? People infected with attitudes like this suck all the life and joy out of doing business. It's not all about people standing around yelling "no excuses! yo' mama don't care!" at each other. Carrying around excess psychological freight like this only slows you down, makes you hate yourself and the industry, etc. If there are problems, you deal with them. Often times, solving problems means figuring out the parameters of the difficulty, putting all the resources you can against the problem, and then going and finding the right people who care to help you out with the rest.

Cushman 15y ago
I like this. I think there's a common fallacy where people want to think that other people are more selfish and uncaring than they are. Maybe it makes it all seem more explicable? But it's not true. Humans haven't managed to colonize the whole planet because we're so mean to each other-- that doesn't even make sense. The physical universe is impartial and uncaring; people have succeeded primarily because, most of the time, we aren't. We have access to such great information sources these days, we hear so much about war, crime, and poverty, it's easy to forget that we actually live in the most peaceful, prosperous times that mankind has ever seen. It's so easy to get ahead for a little while by screwing the other guy, we forget that the only reason any of us exist is because a relatively short time ago, and ever since, some apes realized that if they just put aside their differences and worked together for a little while, they could conquer the world. And they were right. A little bit of trust, humility, and respect for humanity goes a long way. Have a problem? Tell your mother. She probably can't do much to help, but she'll care, and that is way more important than people think.

by kb101 15y ago

Cushman 15y ago

I like this. I think there's a common fallacy where people want to think that other people are more selfish and uncaring than they are. Maybe it makes it all seem more explicable? But it's not true. Humans haven't managed to colonize the whole planet because we're so mean to each other-- that doesn't even make sense. The physical universe is impartial and uncaring; people have succeeded primarily because, most of the time, we aren't. We have access to such great information sources these days, we hear so much about war, crime, and poverty, it's easy to forget that we actually live in the most peaceful, prosperous times that mankind has ever seen. It's so easy to get ahead for a little while by screwing the other guy, we forget that the only reason any of us exist is because a relatively short time ago, and ever since, some apes realized that if they just put aside their differences and worked together for a little while, they could conquer the world. And they were right. A little bit of trust, humility, and respect for humanity goes a long way. Have a problem? Tell your mother. She probably can't do much to help, but she'll care, and that is way more important than people think.