Author: Rachel Hanson

Wouldn't you love to have a competitive advantage that no one else can buy or replicate? Good news is you can, it just takes hard work to turn it into a real advantage. A strong core is your competitive advantage. Not because no one else will have a strong core, but rather because you'll be … Continue reading Competitive advantage

A CEO client of mine has a problem with someone on his team. He's talked to him about the issue, but hasn't really held this player accountable to the standard. I asked what he was going to do about it and heard the usual - I just don't have time to do it. I called … Continue reading Curious and challenging

High performers want to be coached hard and want to be held to a higher standard. High performers don't sit around hoping someone will coach them harder, they ask for it. Demand it even. And if their leader won't give them the coaching, they find someone who will. High performers act. They move. When they … Continue reading High performers

When times are hard (or boring) where you work, there's an easy temptation to look around at competitors and think that X company is running things better, would be more enjoyable, would pay you better, etc. You can see all the flaws of your own company and you've grown somewhat immune by that point to … Continue reading Look before you leap

There are no permanent advantages. It's baked in to the process. The moment you rise to the top, you're facing new headwinds. Opportunity for hubris, increased focus from competition, a skill set that becomes outdated, a desire to "relax" after what you've earned, etc. When you think your competitive advantage is so great it can't … Continue reading No permanent advantages

"You gotta challenge all assumptions. If you don't, what is doctrine on day one becomes dogma." - John Boyd This is a big part of the role of builders. Get each client to challenge their own assumptions, especially those that by virtue of being unquestioned (and often a reluctance to have them questioned), have become … Continue reading Doctrine and dogma

Innovation is driven by incentives. There's a reason why many big leaps in innovation are connected to the military (radar, penicillin, GPS, duct tape, microwaves, etc). Nothing provides an incentive quite like a looming existential threat. What are you incentivizing in your system? Innovation, remember, comes in fits and starts. Lots of fails before a … Continue reading Incentives

Hyman Minsky, an economist, had a seminal theory - stability is destabilizing. The basic concept is that when something is stable, people get optimistic and even careless. They believe things are good and likely to remain good, so they begin to behave as if things will never go south. By virtue of that behavior, things … Continue reading Agent of destabilization